Flags
showing the partner nations of the European Space Agency (ESA). (Photos
courtesy of W5IU)

In my last column in the Summer 2009 issue of
CQ VHF I mentioned that I had attended the ARISS International
“Face-to-Face” meeting in the Netherlands. This column provides a summary
of that meeting and the trip associated with it.

Several new amateur radio satellites have been
launched recently. I will introduce some of these satellites and go over
the process of integrating them into the active satellite inventory.

ARISS International “Face-to-Face Meeting”

Host for the meeting was the European Space
Agency (ESA) at the European Space Research and Technology Center (ESTEC)
located in Noordwijk in The Netherlands. June 17–19, 2009 was a little
late to see the tulips at their peak, but we had a productive series of
meetings and an enjoyable time was had by all. This was my first visit to
The Netherlands. A summary of the meetings follows. Detailed minutes are
available at: <http://www.ariss.org>.

Activities started on Wednesday, June 17, with
a Joint Amateur Radio Working Group (ARWG) and Amateur Radio on the
International Space Station (ARISS) meeting for delegates. Gaston Bertels,
ON4WF, welcomed all attendees and asked participants to introduce
themselves to the group.

Topics discussed during this session were: new
VHF-UHF antennas for the Columbus Module, onboard equipment available for
use, handling of potential interference issues when more than one station
is available for use, equipment deployment planning, and Russian telemetry
tests.

In the afternoon participants were treated to
a tour of the excellent ESTEC equipment qualification facilities. These
facilities are used to test equipment of all kinds and sizes for the
rigors of space travel. Thermal, vacuum, vibration, acoustic noise,
radiation, and shock head the list of tests that are performed. The
facilities are “state of the art” in most cases. After the tour of the
test facilities, participants visited the Erasmus High Bay exhibit area—in
which visitors, potential users, and researchers can familiarize
themselves with the various experiment facilities—and met some of the ESA
astronauts.

After an excellent welcome dinner, an evening
session was convened to hear presentations by the Italian delegation on
two topics. A “hybrid” ARISS QSO combining telebridge and direct
techniques into one contact to extend time availability was the first
topic. An initial proposal for an event in honor of Marconi receiving the
Nobel Prize was the second topic.

Thursday, June 18, was the first day of the
ARISS-International Annual Meeting. In attendance there were 23 attendees
representing 11 countries. After a welcome by Mr. Piero Messina—Head of
the Coordination Office, ESA Directorate of Human Spaceflight, European
Space Agency—Gaston Bertels, ON4WF, again welcomed the delegates and team
members. A moment of silence was observed in memory of Dieter Schliemann,
KX4Y, who recently became a silent key.

Officers were elected to a one-year term to
fill the vacancy created when Frank Bauer, KA3HDO, resigned earlier this
year. Gaston Bertels became Chairman and Will Marchant became Vice
Chairman. Elections for the normal two-year term will take place in 2010.
ARISS reports were heard from Europe, Canada, USA, Russia, and Japan.
These delegate reports were followed by reports from the Operations and
Hardware committees.